How I Work

1. Making first contact

You might get in touch through any number of ways: email, phone, or yelling out to me from across the street. Regardless, our first step is to schedule a meeting to talk about the details of the project. Depending on where you are, we can do it face-to-face or through Skype or phone.

I’ll send you a briefing document, which you DON’T need to fill out at this point. However, if you get the chance to go through and start thinking about it, it sets things up nicely for the next step.

At This Point: You have a scheduled appointment to dig deep into how we produce the winning-est copy for your business.

2. Setting the stage

This is where we sit down and explore everything.

That means talking about things like:

Your business

Your market

Your competition

And your project

We’ll go through the briefing document that’s specifically designed to tease out every scrap of information that could potentially improve your copy.

It’s at this stage some of the best ideas come out, so the harder we both work on getting everything down on paper, the better the final copy will be.

At This Point: We’ve completed our exploration of what you need, and I’m ready to start thinking about how to make your vision reality.

3. Shaping the plan

After we’ve met, I take the completed brief and work out a plan of attack for your project.

Once completed, you’ll be given a Statement of Work outlining all the project details – what you want and how you’ll get it, along with details like scheduling and pricing.

At This Point: You’ve got a comprehensive Statement of Work showing everything you need to know about the project – meaning you know exactly what you’re getting by when and for how much.

4. Getting down to business

By now, I’m ready to get started. I just need 2 things from you:

The Statement of Work (SoW) signed and returned

A 50% deposit, based on the estimates given in the SoW

With those locked in, your project will be scheduled and ready to go!

When the project kick-off date arrives, I immediately go to work. What does that mean?

Lots of researching

Even though we’ve generated a truck-load of useful information through our discussion and the brief, there’s a lot more digging to be done. I often do more study on your markets and competitors, along with what’s working for your style of project (and what isn’t). This builds a colossal mountain of data to work with when it comes to putting pen to paper.

During this stage, I might ask you to provide supporting material like earlier or other promotional examples for your business, client testimonials, designs (e.g. wire frames) or web analytics, if they’re available.

Lots of writing

With the research done, it’s time to put pen to paper. Writing for each project is different: some practically write themselves, others are a wrestle for every word.

I may send you a skeleton draft to confirm the copy is heading in the right direction. This isn’t always done, but early confirmation on complex projects can be useful. If you don’t receive this, you’ll still get all the first drafts by (or before) the deadline date.

At This Point: You get an email in your inbox with first drafts of all the copy we’ve agreed your project needs.

5. Polishing the gem

You’ll be the first person to see the first drafts.

A lot of clients like to review the copy with me on a call. While this is an optional step (and entirely up to you), this helps you understand exactly what has been done where and why.

Once you’ve had a chance to thoroughly review the copy, you simply send it back with your suggested changes.

I’ll make the necessary changes – along with any other improvements that may pop up – and you’ll have your new and improved drafts back before you know it.

But that’s not the end of it!

We repeat the review process a second time, so we can really nail the copy down.

Note: the final 50% of the invoice is sent on sending the second draft to you, and is due 14 days later.

At This Point: You’re giving feedback to fine-tune the copy and getting an early look at the copy, meaning you have plenty of time to think about how best to use it.

6. Signing off on a job well done

Once you’ve received the final draft (after 2 rounds of refining) and final payment has been received, we’re done! You now have your refined and honed copy ready to unleash on an unsuspecting world.

If you’d like a short, 15-minute project wrap-up meeting at this point, I’m happy to jump on the line and go over any final details.

And finally, I may ask you for a testimonial that may be used on my website or Facebook.

At This Point: You’ve got super-refined, super-sharp copy that will make your project a winner, along with the happy glow of a satisfied client.

Why You Should Read This

Your project’s too valuable to be done ad hoc.

That’s why I want to show you the the tried and true process I’ll use to make sure your project’s a success. Some small things may differ from project to project, but the framework itself remains 95% intact.

Dean was a rockstar on this project!

Fast, efficient, incredibly detailed, creative, and spot on with the final outcome.

A++ all the way around and I look forward to working together with Dean again on future projects.Alan Earl

A Little About Dean

Dean is a Brisbane-based conversion and direct response copywriter - in other words, he writes copy designed to sell. His work focuses on landing pages, emails, sales pages and funnels, along with the odd lead magnet. He's also fond of talking about himself in the third person, a good cup of tea and cheering "jolly good show" while watching his Aussie Rules team.